Hero
by Zoey Nightrod
Summary: The bar of HOMRA has always been a place that welcomes individuals who want to join the Red Clan. When a teenager is found unconscious outside the bar, it doesn't seem too unusual. But as Homura finds out this person's past, they realize that not everyone is so fortunate. Will Homura be able to break down the walls this girl has built around herself or will they crush her?


**Author's Note: This was suppose to be a one-shot but it grew to be much longer than expected. In fact, this is the longest chapter I've ever wrote! Anyway, since my other stories are refusing to co-operate with plotlines, I wrote this and decided to focus on developing my characters. Despite being written from the end of the chapter to the beginning (yes, that is weird, I agree) I am quite happy with how it turned out! I really hope that you all love this as much as I do! Let me know what you think in a review! If the characters seem OOC, I'm very sorry. I tried my hardest to keep them in character! **

**This reads best when listening to Stand in the Rain by Superchick, Dark Side by Kelly Clarkson, and Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift!**

***Disclaimer* (No matter how much I love it) I do not own K or any of the characters. I only own my OC and the plotline. **

_The sneakers slapped against the pavement, pushing the teen forward. Faster and faster they ran, desperately trying to put as much distance between them and the building in the past distance as they could. Blood droplets splattered on the ground as they flew past lampposts and abandoned buildings. The recently inflicted wound throbbed but was nothing compared to the sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. It made her want to scream, to lash out at any living being. What she had been reduced to was something that she wished on no one. Every part of her had been beaten and violated and the young woman wanted nothing more than to just give up. _

_To collapse and never get back up._

_It was the worst when she was alone, locked within the dark room her captors called 'The Dog Cage'. There was a reason for that. It was where they kept their pets, their belongings. For fourteen years she had been nothing but a possession. At last, after many long nights of waiting and staying awake, she finally was able to slip out of the nasty pit of despair. _

_Twenty-seven blocks later, she found a suitable place to rest. In the dim lighting it was hard to make out the sign but her brown eyes managed._

_HOMRA Bar._

_With a sigh, the teen fell unconscious onto the stone steps. _

* * *

"Wonder how long she's been here." Chitose poked at the body lying on the steps leading up to the famous bar. Fujishima only stared at the slumped individual, running options through his head. Of course, he picked the one that would piss off Izumo the most.

He slung the girl onto his back, grabbed Chitose's wrist, and pulled them both into the bar.

* * *

The door to HOMRA opened and in stepped Fujishima, carrying a person upon his back. Izumo took one glance at the man and sighed.

"What do you have now?" Chitose, who had entered with Fujishima, grinned.

"Fujishima found a chick passed out on the stairs. Pretty cute too," the womanizer crowed, eyeing the unconscious figure.

"It's cold outside," The other spoke before the bartender could. "And she's covered in blood. I'm not putting her back." The stubborn tone cut off Izumo's prepared rant.

"Fine," the blond mumbled through a clenched jaw. "Just put her down somewhere for now."

"Where do you want me to put her?" The orange-haired man skimmed the room.

Izumo motioned to a piece of furniture. "You can set her on the couch, Fujishima-kun."

Fujishima let the girl slid off his back and onto the couch gently. The Crow crept up to her, a blush creeping its way up to his cheeks. He stared at the figure on the couch, not sure what to make of the newcomer.

"What exactly are we suppose to do with her," Yata complained, his face a bit flushed. "I mean, she's a _girl_. Shouldn't we just leave her alone?" The vanguard uncomfortably shifted his weight onto his opposite foot. Eric sneered at him.

"So the Chihuahua can't even handle sleeping girls? _How pathetic_," The English speaking man dodged the fist heading his way. Izumo broke them up, not wanting to deal with any fights.

"Hey, hey, knock it off you two," he snapped, hitting them both on the head. "Focus on the problem here, not your petty disagreements." Yata and Eric mumbled apologies and settled for glaring at each other viciously. The blond shook his head and sighed then turned back to the couch.

"I guess we have to wait until she wakes up, right Mikoto?"

The Red King shrugged his shoulders, not really caring. No sooner had Izumo suggested the idea did the girl stir, eyes opening groggily. The brown eyes darted around, taking in the surroundings. A second later, they widened alarmingly and the girl jumped up. She looked ready to run out the door, but what worried the gang the most was the way she backed away from them all, shaking like a leaf in the wind. Her back reached the wall, her hands grasping wildly for something to grab hold of. With a silent whimper, she slid down, fear making her eyes tear up and her body refuse to stop its shudders. Confusion rippled like a wave through the Homura members. Many of them moved towards her, forcing the newcomer to try to back further away. Izumo held out a hand, holding them back. He started ahead, but stopped when the brown eyes locked on him with desperation. To Homura's surprise, the girl didn't move back when the youngest member walked until she was only a foot or so away from her and held up one of her famous marbles.

"She's scared of you," Anna told Izumo. "She belonged to the yakuza before she ran away. They hurt her." A startled look flashed across the eyes behind the sunglasses.

"She was a slave for the yakuza?" Anna nodded. Izumo frowned, sadness filling the light tan eyes.

"No wonder she is so frightened." The owner of HOMRA stepped towards the girl with an outstretched hand, similar to how he would with a cornered animal.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Izumo said, giving a soft smile. "I just want to help you, okay?" Brown eyes flickered to meet his behind the purple sunglasses. The owner of the dark eyes just scooted away, towards the white-haired Strain.

Izumo tried to reach the girl again and again and again but each time only made her draw farther back.

The blond bartender let out a breath, finally coming to the conclusion that the teenager wouldn't let any male near her, lest she would pull away and start shaking. He glanced over at Mikoto, who was staring at the small figure with his golden gaze. Izumo sauntered over to him and rubbed his temples. Mikoto grunted, obviously just as irritated.

"How are we supposed to help her when she won't even talk," he mumbled, clenching and unclenching his fist. His second-in-command thought for a moment.

"Maybe we can't but perhaps someone else can." He smiled, and then turned to Mikoto. The redhead just glared at him, waiting for an explanation.

"I know just the person to call," Izumo said, pulling out his PDA. He pressed the screen a few times then held the device up to his ear, eyes flickering over to the girl as he waited for the said person to pick up.

_-In the office of Scepter 4's Captain-_

"The report stated that the location of the Strain was-" A sharp ringing sound sliced through the statement. Annoyance flickered over the woman's face as Awashima glared at the pocket holding her PDA. The Captain stared at her blankly while Fushimi 'tsk'ed under his breath. She gave an apologetic look to the Captain, worried that he might be angry with the interruption. He waved a hand.

"Go ahead and answer it, Awashima-kun," he said smoothly. She pulled out the electronic and frowned at the screen.

"It's Kusanagi Izumo," the woman spoke aloud, wondering why in the world he would be calling her. She glanced at her superior but his face remained as impassive as ever. With a sigh, the 'talk' button was hit.

"What do you want," she seethed, angry that out of all the times he could have called her; it was during a meeting with her Captain. His reply came over the line, slightly worried.

"I ne- we need your help," was the first thing that came out of his mouth. Awashima closed her eyes for a moment before replying.

"And what would ever make you require my services?" There was a pause as Izumo shouted at someone in the bar.

"There's someone here that needs your help." Another frown tugged at the woman's lips.

"I thought you said that_ you_ needed my assistance," she snapped, frustrated. Izumo sighed.

"We do. There's someone here at the bar that I think only you can help. None of us- at least no one but Anna- can seem to get close to her. She's in bad condition. Like, _really bad_. You know I wouldn't be calling unless it was an emergency." Izumo almost sounded like he was begging. The Tundra woman was a bit surprised. She'd never heard him sound like this before.

"What exactly do you mean in bad condition? Why would I help you? What has Homura ever done for Scepter 4?" Her questions were cold and merciless. The bartender made a noise, close to a groan.

"This isn't about Scepter 4 or Homura," he replied sternly. "This is only about a girl in my bar who looks like she's been through hell." The words came faster over the line.

"There are cuts and bruises all over her body, her clothes are a total mess, she's scared to death of us all-especially me and Mikoto- and no one here has any idea of what to do. You're our last resort, Seri. If you won't do it for us, then do it for her." Silence settled over the room as Awashima digested the new information.

"It's no wonder she's terrified of you all," came the cold response. "Anyone in their right minds would be if they were suddenly thrown into a bar of brainless idiots who had nothing better to do than run around causing trouble. That Yatagarasu would be enough to scare off any girl. He's loud and obnoxious, not to mention violent. Has it ever occurred to you that your reputation may exceed your group itself? With the rumors floating around, everyone knows of the Red King and his bunch of wannabe gangsters." Izumo was quiet. Awashima was glad. Hopefully her point got across. Instead of giving in, he just answered with a quiet sentence.

"She was a slave for the yakuza, Seri." The temperature in the room seemed to drop. The woman didn't know what to say to that.

"And guessing from the way she reacts to me and Mikoto, I would say it was older males who took advantage of her. There's probably no place on her body that hasn't been abused." Awashima swallowed roughly.

"How old is she?" she asked, feeling slightly sick. Izumo let out a frustrated sigh.

"We don't know. I'm guessing around seventeen or eighteen. It's hard to tell because of the fact that she hasn't eaten in a good three or four days. And when she was fed, it was in small amounts. Very small. Probably only enough to keep her alive. We've asked her but she won't answer. Won't talk at all, really. Anna said that the reason is because whenever she would scream or cry, they would hit her. So she became a mute. I've tried and tried but it's no use." His voice broke. "Seri, she's been treated worse than a dog would be. Even Eric wasn't this bad when we found him."

The woman knitted her brows together.

"I'm in a meeting right now but I'll come after work," she told him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Munakata wave a hand.

"Go ahead and head over there, Awashima-kun. I'll take care of the report," he said. "Take the rest of the day off. It sounds like you'll need it." Awashima protested.

"Are you sure, sir? I can do the-" Munakata cut her off.

"Awashima-kun," he gave her a stern look. "Take care of her. If Homura says that you're the only one, then I believe them. Even Suoh wouldn't turn to us unless she was truly beyond their help." Awashima nodded.

"I'll come over immediately then," she told Izumo. "Give me half an hour." The blonde hung up and bowed stiffly.

"Thank you, sir. I'll make sure to submit a full report tomorrow." Munakata shook his head.

"That won't be necessary unless she is a Strain. Otherwise, just focus on the task at hand." Awashima thanked him again then left the room, nodding to Fushimi on the way out. The cobalt-haired teen clicked his tongue.

"I'm guessing this means that I'm stuck with the paperwork," he complained. Munakata smiled, holding out the stack of papers to his third-in-command.

"I suppose you better start right away then."

Awashima stood in front of the Homura bar, thinking back to the phone conversation. Was it really that terrible or were they just fooling around? She thought back to the way he had spoken and decided that even Kusanagi Izumo wouldn't go that far. He had to have been telling the truth. The blue-eyed blonde walked up the stone steps and yanked open the door. As soon as she entered, she was met with an eerie silence. It unnerved her as she closed the wooden door behind her.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust but when they did, she was caught off guard. Members of the Red clan hung around but instead of their usual boisterous selves, they were sullen and quiet. Even the famous skateboarder simply sat on the couch, talking in a hushed voice to the heavyset blonde beside him. Awashima blinked then met the gaze of Izumo.

"Where is she?" Izumo pointed with the rag he was holding over to one of the bar corners; the one farthest away from the group of people. Awashima had to squint in order to make out the individual hunched in the corner. She spared Izumo a glance.

"Has she been there the whole time?" The blond bartender nodded.

"Ever since she woke up," he replied, wiping out a glass. "Hasn't moved a muscle. Or spoken a word. Neither action seems to catch her attention. Would be nice if we could at least find out her name."

He spoke in broken sentences. Awashima walked over to the figure cautiously. The head of the individual rose enough so that chocolate eyes could stare at her. The blonde knelt down and extended her hand to the teen, only to be met with air when she moved away from her. Awashima frowned. It seemed this would be harder than it looked. Then she noticed that the brown eyes were trained on the bag in her hand. It held her uniform since she had changed out of it, thinking that perhaps the blue outfit would only alarm the runaway even more. Awashima raised the arm that held the bag and the figure shrunk back.

"Would it be better if I set it over here?" she said, moving to set the bag a few feet away and then coming back. The figure just stared at her, silent. The lieutenant reached out a hand to the girl. She watched warily, repressing the urge to shy away. The hand succeeded in touching the girl on the knee then retreated, a sticky substance covering the fingers. Awashima glanced at her hand and noticed that it was red in color.

The girl was bleeding.

The blue eyes locked on brown ones as the blonde woman reached her hand out again. This time it touched the girl's forehead.

"What's your name?" Awashima asked softly, trying her hardest not to seem intimidating. The girl stared behind her, looking frightened. One glance over her shoulder told Awashima that every pair of eyes in the room was trained on her and the girl. The icy blue eyes narrowed.

"Do you mind?" Awashima snapped, and everyone turned away, resuming whatever they had been doing beforehand. A light touch stole the woman's attention. She faced front again to see the girl looking at her with brighter eyes. She wasn't smiling, but it seemed as though she was warming up to the woman. Awashima smiled.

"Boys, huh?" she laughed, earning a confused look. Anna approached the two and gazed at them through a red marble.

"She likes you," the little girl said quietly. "But she doesn't like Mikoto or Izumo. Says they're scary and reminds her of _them_." She stressed the word 'them' with a bit of anger. Awashima repeated her question from before but received only a blank stare. Anna shook her head.

"Says she doesn't know."

"You don't know your name?" The girl looked down, eyes close to tears. She shook her head as well. A frown pulled at the lips of Awashima.

"That's okay," she soothed the girl. "Do you know how old you are?"

Another shake of the head. Things were getting difficult.

"How about the name of the group that held you prisoner?"

No luck.

Awashima sighed, not knowing what else to ask that the teen would possibly know. So she decided to take a different route. Izumo approached with a motion of her hand.

"Try reaching out to her now," the blonde murmured, placing a hand on the shaking shoulder.

"It's okay. He's not going to hurt you," Awashima gently said, stroking the girl's cheek. Despite the kind words, the female still shied away from Izumo. He pulled back.

"Guess it's only you and Anna, Seri." The bartender retreated back behind his usual place with a sigh. The member of Scepter 4 mumbled to herself.

"Why is it that I always get stuck with the difficult ones?" There was a sniffle and Awashima glanced up to see tears in the girl's eyes.

"Hey, hey," the woman mentally scolded herself for being so careless. "I didn't mean you. It's just hard when you're not speaking, okay? Could you talk to me?" A pained look crossed the brown eyes. She shook her head. Awashima pressed her.

"Why not? Is it because you were punished for it before?" There was a nod. "Don't worry. No one here is going to hurt you for talking. We actually want you to. It would make things a lot easier." She waited for a response. "On all of us. So just tell me what's wrong, okay?" Silence settled over the bar. The girl opened her mouth, took a breath, then quickly shook her head and buried it in Awashima's shoulder.

It appeared that talking would take a while.

But Awashima could wait. Little by little she would break down the walls this girl had built around herself. First, she had to figure out her full past and learn to take things slow, especially when it came to touchy situations, like her being hit for making sounds. But first thing first. The girl desperately needed a bath and new clothes. Luckily, Awashima had brought some with her, along with simple hair products and body wash. It was always good to think ahead. The girl raised her head but refused to look the woman in the eye.

Awashima ran her fingers through the tangles in the chocolate colored hair and wiped dirt off of the pale cheek. Her blue eyes trailed over the tattered clothing, taking in every hole and tear. Dried blood was caked over the cuts, giving the skin a darker tone. All in all, the girl was in a horrible state. The female soldier sighed softly, knowing that the girl wasn't in the condition by choice. She looked so fragile, as though Awashima could break her with a single touch. Pity filled the sapphire eyes.

"Where is the bathroom?" Izumo glanced at the blonde, and then pointed above him.

"There's one upstairs," he replied, Awashima turning back to the figure in front of her.

"Why don't we go get you cleaned up?" Awashima smiled at the girl and helped her up. She led the way up the stairs, loosely holding the arm of the teen. They vanished onto the next floor and Izumo smiled.

"Told you that she was the perfect person to call," he said, smiling with relief. "If there was anyone who could have helped her, it would have to have been another female, since none of us can get near her." He gestured to the room, with a glass in hand. "I'm sure she'll be fine in no-"

He stopped as loud thumps came from upstairs. Izumo frowned and looked up, while everyone else froze in what they were doing.

"What is going on up there?" The bartender set down the glass he was wiping clean and went to head to the stairs, only to be cut off when the girl raced down the stairway, fearfully throwing herself back into the corner she had occupied earlier. She curled back into a ball, her whole body wracking with shudders. Awashima appeared on the landing, panting from running. Izumo took one look at the figure on the floor and then switched his gaze to the Scepter 4 lieutenant.

"She freaked out when I opened the door to the bathroom," stated the woman. "I tried to tell her it was okay but she shoved me aside and ran down the stairs." Izumo watched the girl as she rocked from side to side, obviously frightened. Awashima padded down the rest of the flight, heading towards the young woman. When she reached for her, the girl yanked her head up and jerked back, eyes as wide as a deer caught in a car's headlights. Awashima tried again to take her arm but only managed to get another jump from the girl. The blonde knelt down to her but the girl scooted away, distrustful. Giving up, she took a few steps back.

"Looks like Anna is the only one that can get through to her now," she sighed, shaking her head. The little girl trotted up, holding a red marble to her eye.

"She has scars on her arms," the little girl said in a monotone, making Awashima whip her head around.

"What? Scars?" Anna nodded, white hair swaying with the movement. The blue-eyed woman looked sadly at the shaking individual who was watching her with fear in her dark eyes. Finally, kneeling down and slowly extending her hand, she managed to touch the girl's arm lightly.

"I didn't know," she whispered, trying to earn the girl's trust. "I'm so sorry." The brown eyes flickered from person to person, then back to Awashima. She let her right arm be slowly taken away from her body, as the older female in front of her gently pushed back the clothing and took a good look at the thin wrist.

There was a single slash, right on the inside where the main vein pulsed. It was jagged and uneven, as though someone had hastily drew a blade across the skin. The mark was light in color but at least a few years old. Awashima raised her head to meet the girl's gaze.

"Did you do this?" The woman asked, tapping the scar. The girl shook her head and Awashima frowned. Anna held the marble up again, and then spoke.

"One of the yakuza tried to kill her because he was angry." The Strain blinked, tilting her head to the side. "Another member stopped him." The girl stared at the younger girl, and then nodded in conformation. The people in the room looked shocked, as though the other facts of her past life weren't horrible enough. "That's why she ran from the bathtub."

"They slit your wrists and tried to drown you, didn't they," Awashima murmured, rubbing her thumb gently across the scars that marred the teen's skin. The girl nodded silently, and the blonde woman glanced at her. Then she took everyone by surprise and pulled the curled figure into her arms, her left arm around the small frame and her right hand caressing the chocolate colored hair. "It's alright, you're safe now," The woman whispered, continuing her movements while the girl buried her face into the curve of Awashima's neck.

For the first time in a long time, the teen felt like someone cared.

**Author's Note: There will be more chapters to come! For those who have read or want to read more stories of mine, I have the status of them posted in my profile. Please leave suggestions, comments, or anything you would like to share in a review. I am so grateful to those who read this story! You are all amazing, dear readers! **


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